News and Inspiration

I’m incredibly grateful for every donation, and adore going through and finding homes for pieces of bias binding, elastic, pieces of patchwork, dress fabrics and patterns. I feel honoured and humbled that someone is willing to give us this special piece of their lives.

Sample of the treasures unpacked from a recently donated sewing box

After 3 years of gradually putting up shelves and making storage baskets, and finding homes for each little trim, scrap and meter of fabric, we finally felt truly like curators rather than simply hoarders… and then word spread that we accept donations of textiles... and suddenly our ‘swap shop’ has become more like a ‘swamped shop’. If not for the help of our dedicated volunteers, especially my mother Alison, and students from the university language school, and the clever ideas for turning banana boxes into tiny tardises, we would indeed be inundated.

My mother, Alison, our Chief Sorter and Extra Space Finder.

We recently borrowed the commercial scales from the waste management team at the DCC to do a full stock take of the amount of textiles (and related sewing items) we have in our collection. The total?

3710.7 KGS!

A couple of our thoughts on this:

That’s massive!

What an achievement to sort and manage it all

That’s roughly 0.1% of the textiles that annually end up in Dunedin landfill

Dunedin’s textile waste issue is ENORMOUS, but we are making a difference by collecting what we do

...How are we ever going to use it all?!

Looking into one of our 'overflow' rooms, filled with boxes of fabrics

It’s not uncommon for people to say that they realised they had collected more fabric than they were ever likely to have the time to sew… and we can strongly relate! People are donating to us because they realise that they don’t have to be the ones who use it - it can be used by others! That’s the key for us too; making sure as many people as possible can access our collection so that it’s not up to us alone to bring these wonderful materials to life.Word is also spreading that we are a great place to look for inspiration and materials for sewing projects, for themselves or for community groups they’re a part of. From schools making bunting for anniversary celebrations, to service agencies looking for materials to make fundraising craft projects, to student upcycling op-shop buys, to patchworkers, crocheters and more…

Min, displaying her hand-stitched quilt made from scraps from our collections.

It’s exciting to think how our networks will continue to grow, and we will be able to track how much more fabric we not only save from landfill, but redistribute around the city to those who can use it.

In the meantime, there are ways you can help us keep fabric out of landfill, and from swamping us!

If you love browsing fabrics, dreaming of ideas and learning more about materials and new textile crafts, and have some time to spare, perhaps you’d like to join our sorting sessions?

If you are looking for a new project, instead of buying new materials, come to our swap shop or go to op-shops first (you can always email or phone to ask if we have something you particularly looking for).

If you have extra fabrics, ask your friends and family first, to see if they have a use for your items, or they might know someone who will directly benefit.

If you have a favourite op-shop, ask the staff for what they can sell or use, and give them only what can be sold or used by volunteers - as per clothing and other items.

The 30th October 2019 was our second Annual General Meeting, to share with volunteers, supporters and friends the 'behind the scenes' work we do to keep Stitch Kitchen open, and to share some of our ideas to continue adding new items to our 'menu' in 2020.It was heartwarming to have such a good turnout, and to read messages from those who sent in apologies. There are times when we feel like a very small number, and our passion for this work can seem like a very large burden; so knowing we are not alone, and that even from a distance people see us, understand, and wish to encourage us means a great deal!

I (Fiona Jenkin) chaired the meeting, and shared the Chairperson's report, as Fiona Clements was unfortunately unavailable. There were many highlights from the year to share including:

4KT Elephants project

Regular volunteers creating a community

Marketing plan and employing Jess for social media management

Growth in our sewing classes

Increasing number of tutors from the community sharing their skills in new workshops

Bags for Good and our new conference bags

Swap Shop donations and processing

CTANZ conference

Working with Ignite consultants on strategic development and budgeting

I put together some nifty tables for our 'key performance indicators' (KPIs) to show how our work has grown this year compared to last...

There were also a couple of 'lowlights' of things which we learned from:

Need to 'spread the load' and delegate responsibilities to avoid burn-out

Need to strengthen relationships with other organisations and artists to find outlets for textiles we collect, to keep stock turning over and reduce demand on our storage space

Need to actively pursue and support retailers to stock products such as our Bags For Good bags, in order to keep project going.

Also, looking ahead, plenty of opportunities:

New premises which provide more functional space for us to expand, with easy access; retail space for our swap shop resources and items made from them; good ventilation; work area for textile dyeing and printing…

Increasing the range of funding organisations we apply to for assistance with project costs and investment in good equipment such as sewing machines.

Increasing range of workshops on different textile arts practices with tutors from throughout the community.

I also shared my report as treasurer, which you can click here to readBelow is our general ledger showing previous years figures, current year-to -date, and our budgeted projection for the remainder of this year:

As a not-for-profit, we always aim to reinvest our income back into programs and resources, and our increased growth in income will put us in excellent foundation for stretching towards our goals in 2020 which include increasing our rent outgoings with new space, and increasing our wages (contracting) by creating new paid positions to spread the workload.

An important part of any AGM is the election of officers, and we were delighted to have two new members join our board:

Fiona Clements, Chair

Desi Liversage, Secretary

Fiona Jenkin, Treasurer

Katie Mangai, Trustee

Kirsten Kosh, Trustee

I will update our website and include profiles soon so you can get to know us a little more.

We welcome anyone else who wishes to join us for our regular planning meetings to get in touch. New perspectives and ideas are always useful. Or you can simply get in touch via email, or facebook message.

Desi and I (Fiona Jenkin), along with her partner Jason as our driver, spent an enjoyable 2 days driving each way (stopping regularly at op shops, naturally). We are enormously grateful to everyone who supported our fundraising efforts to cover the expenses of travel, accommodation, and registration. (See our blog post about our fabric sale fundraiser here.)

The theme for the symposium was ‘A Common Thread’, incorporating ideas that textiles are familiar, widespread, and involve the whole community. This was well represented by the wide range of papers presented which demonstrated how textiles are part of our personal and cultural experience and are connected to our ideas of self-expression, modesty, ethics, communication, community, environmental engagement… and much more!

In that mix, Desi and I presented our story about how Stitch Kitchen is working to solve local issues of textile waste, loss of skills, and social isolation, through community workshops to repurpose textile waste.

Our presentation was very well received, with many comments about how much our passion and energy highlighted how rewarding it is to involve the community in creative projects (including a representitive from our 4KT Project :) ).

Desi and I presenting our paper on 'Stitch Kitchen; Recipe for a Resilient Community'

Ele, my 4KT elephant mascot

We made many new connections, as well as strengthening relationships with people we knew only through media.

A great number of the presenters shared ideas related to sustainability and ethics in their field.

Yasmeen Maria Jones-Chollet was the keynote speaker, sharing her work to highlight the unethical conditions of production, and the waste created by fast fashion. Yasmeen’s presentation ‘Enslaved by Demand’ was about her campaign on the main street of Nelson during Fashion Revolution weeks in April 2018 and 2019 to raise awareness of the conditions our clothing is made under in order to meet consumer demand for low prices.

Yaseen set up a representation of a production sweetshop making simple fabric bags, and imposed conditions on herself that represented conditions for workers in fast fashion, including 16hr days for 7 days straight, with only three ten-minute breaks each day.

Rules of protest, t-shirts printed with the common working conditions of textile workers, which Yaseem adherred to during her campaign.

She received many comments from the public, which shows growing support for ethical fashion… and how far we still have to go before we reach the level of cooperation, education, activism, and shift in consumption that it will take for every employee in the fashion industry to experience the goal of seeing all workers treated according to the UN’s Declaration of Human Rights.

Other highlights for me from the three days of presentations included two papers on historical dress:

Kate Douglas and Ellen Doyle from National Gallery of Victoria shared their experience of combining modern technology and traditional crafts to replicate a missing stomacher, the decorative triangular panel used to cover the corset, from an English 18th century woman’s open robe.

18th Century English open robe with replica stomacher, displayed at National Gallery of Victoria

Detail of the digitally printed fabric and hand-stitched replica stomacher.

Kate and Ellen worked in collaboration with the gallery’s photographic services department to use digital scanning and printing to recreate the colour and pattern onto new fabric, and then painstakingly re-designed and handcrafted a new stomacher based on their research of what the original may have looked like.

The purpose of creating the stomacher was to be able to display the gown as part of exhibition, and to understand the context of how undergarments were used to add versatility to robes, similarly to how we might change the shirt worn with a suit.

It was a fascinating look into how we can continue to learn more about historical fashion, and skills used in creating it, through modern technology.

A different perspective was given by Chantelle Garrard, HOD of Wardrobe and Design for the Pop-Up Globe, where historical dress was not produced as costume for display only, but as ‘fashion’ worn by actors on a modern stage.

Chantelle heavily researches historical dress from the Elizabethen period for each play, and trains her wardrobe team to treat the designs not as ‘replicas’ or ‘costumes’ but as clothing, worn by real people in daily context of their lives. Her team employ techniques which range from using hot pokers to press open the ruffs, to tailoring garments with a minimal amount of cutting, and finding uses for every scrap of trim and material - in what we now would consider zero waste production - as part of maximising every investment in materials on what Chantelle commented as ‘film quality’ costumes on a ‘stage’ budget.

Pop-Up Globe production of Merchant of Venice. Photo from https://popupglobe.co.nz/

Early productions were made using her extensive hoarded collection of natural fibre fabrics, with wool and linen dominant in all their garments, for the comfort of the actors, longevity, as well as for historical accuracy.

Garments are treated with vodka to clean, and hung to air and dry after each performance (a trick I plan to employ in my wardrobe!). Actors and dressers share responsibility for the costumes, and help with repairs.

Actors are given a greater appreciation of their characters through understanding each fabric, colour, and trim choice, and surprised as how comfortable and practical the garments are, and the ability to cope with quick changes with no velcro or domes! In the Pop-Up theatre, the audience is given full opportunity to appreciate this detail, as they may be standing very close to the stage, and actors regularly perform in the midst of the audience.

I certainly appreciated the spectacular effect when the company came to Dunedin earlier this year, and I hope the company continues to tour for many years to come.

Design for 'Barnardine' from "Measure For Measure"

Detail of braid on collar of cape.

Ele trying on a ruff collar for size. (The jacket was too big)

Shoes from "Measure For Measure". Hand made in England to 17th C designs

As part of the conference, we had the opportunity to visit the WOW museum. Many of the incredible designs represented issues of gender and social equality, mental health, cultural identity, observation of nature, and the destruction of the environment. All highly complex ideas which took shape by adorning the body.

There were many other papers, and exhibitions, which explored the historical and contemporary place textiles (weaving, patchwork, textile painting, embroidery, sculpture, and wearable art and fashion) hold in our lives; socially, personally, aesthetically, and practically (this article would be a thesis if I covered them all). The symposium highlighted for me why I love being part of this industry (for the want of a better word).

If you ever have the opportunity to attend a CTANZ symposium, or their regional talks, I highly recommend it. Especially if you can fit in some opshopping on the way :)